Sam's Infinite Playlist: Seas & Summer Sand

Link to Listen to the Playlist on 8tracks.

1) Summer Mood - Best Coast

2) Let's Go Surfing - The Drums

3) Brand New Day - Kodaline

4) Surfin' U.S.A. - The Beach Boys

5) Sunshine - The Archies

6) One Way Or Another - Blondie

7) Mason Jar - Smallpools

8) Sugar, Sugar - The Archies

9) Holiday - Vampire Weekend

10) Color The Walls (Don't Stop) - Foster the People

11) Do You Want It All - Two Door Cinema Club

12) June Hymn - The Decemberists

I've been planning on putting a beach playlist together, and after my friend, Bea, asked me to, it gave me an even bigger reason to make one. My summer break started last month and wow I'm just so happy that I got through my freshman year--it was pretty long. Anyhow, here's a playlist full of songs I'd want to play when I'm at the beach or some summery place. Haha. Hope you all like the songs as much as I do.

5 Favorite On-Screen Friendships

1.) Gordie Lachance & Chris Chambers (Stand By Me)

Gordie (right): Am I weird? Chris (left): Yeah. But so what? Everybody's weird.

“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”-Gordie
"You’re going to be a great writer some day, Gordie."-Chris

These two belong to the top of my list for numerous good reasons. Gordie (Wil Wheaton) and Chris (The late River Phoenix, one of my favorite actors of all time.) These two characters just mean a lot to me, and they make me think--like really, really think. They take 'friends should be there for one another', to heart. A lot of their scenes together tend to make me really emotional, because here you have a kid (Chris) who's practically the same age as the rest of his friends, yet acts like the big brother--or father, even (which is why he's considered the leader of the four.) He really looks out for them and takes care of them. You take that certain kid and his best friend (Gordie) who's older brother (who happened to be Gordie's parent's favorite) had recently died and you create this really beautiful friendship. You could just clearly see that Chris cares so much for Gordie and really doesn't want Gordie to waste his life and talent, because Chris believes that he doesn't and won't ever have the same opportunities as Gordie. Chris has simply just given up on himself and therefore puts all his faith into Gordie, he even believes in Gordie more than Gordie's own father does. It isn't only the two of them in the movie (Stand By Me) though, all four of the boys' friendships with one another is touching--also a tad bit eccentric and hilarious. I just like that Gordie and Chris have that maturity and sincerity in theirs. The final scene gets to me every time.

     

(Skip to 0:45, to be more exact.)

2.) Forrest Gump & Liutenant Dan (Forrest Gump)

Lieutenant Dan: Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?

 Forrest: I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, Sir.

  Forrest Gump might be the movie that's closest to my heart. I grew up watching it and I can't not cry every time. I've tried. When I was creating this list I had a hard time deciding whether I was going to choose Forrest (Tom Hanks) and Bubba, or Forrest and the Lieutenant (Gary Sinise). So I watched the movie (again) and felt like Forrest and Dan was more appropriate and had more impact on me. Forrest Gump is practically one of the most beautiful movies ever created--the soundtrack is perfect, the cast was perfect, acting perfect, very historically accurate--basically everything was quality. Lieutenant Dan and Forrest had a very work/professional-leveled relationship in the beginning, Dan being Forrest's Lieutenant during the Vietnamese war. Which gradually developed to knowing and seeing each other in New York (and by this time, Dan was an emotional wreck who had lost his legs, and resented Forrest for saving his life in the war, because Daniel deemed it his destiny to die there, just like his ancestors) and then finally into friends/first-mates in Forrest's shrimping business like he had promised when they saw each other in New York. Lieutenant Dan regained his will to live when he was Forrest's First-Mate--and I'd have to say that that is one of the greatest things about their friendship. He forgives Forrest and goes on with his life. After many years, at Forrest's wedding with Jenny, Lieutenant Dan comes with his fiance and his new prosthetic legs which enabled him to walk. At that point in the movie, you just realize that if it weren't for Forrest saving his life, all that wouldn't have happened to Dan.

    

3.) Daniel LaRusso & Mr. Miyagi (The Karate Kid)

 

Daniel: You're the best friend I've ever had.

Miyagi: You... pretty okay, too.

What kind of maintenance man fixes your bike, teaches you Karate, and gives you an incredibly nice car for your birthday? Mr. Miyagi (the late Pat Morita)--that's who. Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) is the luckiest (not really) guy in the world. (Fun fact: In the movie, Daniel is a high-school senior, but Ralph Macchio was actually in his early twenties when it was being filmed.) When I was younger, I used to want someone like Mr. Miyagi to go teach me how to kick-butt. With that being said, it obviously never happened. I still wish that I'd learn how to kick butt, though. I love their really different friendship and the development, you don't see this kind of friendship in movies quite often. I also really like the fact that Daniel practically became Mr. Miyagi's family. The scene where Miyagi was drunk and starts telling Daniel about his dead wife and realization dawned on Daniel and he tucks Mr. Miyagi in bed is one of my favorites. That, and the ending where Mr. Miyagi was giving Daniel this proud smug look after winning the tournament. (Also, I love how the sequel starts right from the end of the first movie.)

4) Marty McFly & Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown (Back to the Future)

Marty: Hey, Doc, we better back up. We don't have enough road to get up to 88. 

Doc: Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.

I haven't watched the Back to the Future movies up until recently, and I have no idea how I lived without watching the movies. (I watched it when I was four or something, but that doesn't count.) I'm quite in love with the whole series right now, and how the 80's movies like The Karate Kid and Back to the Future's sequels start right where it left off.  Marty Mcfly is--like what his mom says--such a "dream boat." Really. His whole friendship with the Doc is just incredibly interesting, then again, anyone who could travel through time is interesting. I love how even when McFly had gotten told-off for being friends with someone who's as nuts as the doc, he simply shrugged it off as if he knew but didn't care. True friendship right there, folks. Let's learn from them. Think old man and teenage boy--but with a twist, I guess that's another way to describe them. They're sort-off like partners in crime, minus the crime part, and go off helping one another in journeys that I wish to have. I'd say that they need each other, after all, the Doc would've been dead in 1985 if it weren't for McFly's persistence in telling the doc about his future even when the Doc didn't want to hear about it.

    

5) C.C. & Hillary (Beaches)

Hillary: Be sure to keep in touch C.C. okay? 

 C.C.: Well sure we’re friends aren’t we?

Beaches would be the movie that I could guarantee you that I'd cry every single time I watch it, okay, mayve cry even more than when I watch Forrest Gump. The entirety of the movie is really painfully beautiful. I could still remember watching it with my mom back when I was about eight and not being able to stop crying. After you see this movie, there's absolutely no way you wouldn't bawl your eyes out every time you hear the words "Wind Beneath My Wings." Hearing the song makes it worse. Beaches, to me at the very least, is the epitome of friendships that last forever. It takes the phrase literally. Their friendship basically, was an accident, or you could also call it a coincidence. Meeting as two children who lived very oppositely, you wouldn't think their friendship would go very far, but by a string of coincidences, they do. They grow up and develop their lives, yet, the two were still there for one another. It's amazing how you see the whole magical thing happen, from when they met, to so many other things including a birth of a child and a death. The song that young C.C. (played by Bette Midler, who's songs I love,) had sang as a child had me hooked for months, and I adored the level of her relationship with Hillary (played by Barbara Hershey.) The ending is honestly one of the most heart-warming endings ever created, I don't think I could make it even a tad bit better. Even if it was incredibly sad. 

This scene is basically the opposite of their friendship.

The Dandelion & the Tulip.

While everyone else's first entries of the year were reflections of the previous year or resolutions, I thought I'd like mine to be a story. (I'd like to know what you think about it, as well.)
I actually wrote this for my English class, about 8 minutes before the submission (I procrastinate heh.) And I found it funny how everyone wrote stories about teenage love and all that, while I wrote mine about two flowers. I guess I'm pretty odd that way. Asides from that, I wrote this story with the Fairy-tale format in mind, so don't be weird-ed out if it happens to bypass all the laws of science. (I absolutely adore classics and Fairy tales.) And lastly, I never really share most of the things I write when it comes to stories, it's just hard to find people who'd understand the kind of things I like to write about, and I feel really exposed. Also, the whole thing is pretty much full of symbolisms, which is why I chose those two certain flowers. But I decided I'd share one for Valentine's day, as the story has some relation to love. Happy Valentine's Day!

The Dandelion & the Tulip

There were once two flowers. A red tulip redder than any rose. And a dandelion, whiter than any dove. Both flowers could be found in the most beautiful garden in the world.

“What a beautiful flower.” The dandelion would often say to itself. “If only I could meet the red tulip.” It would sigh. One day, the four-leaf clover caught the dandelion sighing about the tulip.           “I know how you can meet the tulip!” It said to the sighing dandelion. The dandelion perked up in excitement. “But let us wait until the sun sets before I tell you, for some flowers might be against it.” The four-leaf clover said with hidden mischief.

The four-leaf clover thought back to a night, weeks ago. The sky was glistening with stars, and under those stars, a red bud popped out of the ground. Immediately, the four-leaf clover was entranced by its beauty. And every-day, the clover would watch the tulip grow. “The lovely tulip will be mine.” It would think. Although, the clover would never be able to reach the flower. But not too long after the tulip bud had bloomed, a dandelion grew in-front of the clover, blocking the clover’s view of the tulip. Sometimes the clover would catch the dandelion sighing to itself about the tulip. Out of jealousy, the clover swore to itself that it would get rid of the dandelion.

Not long after the sun had set, and the other flowers and plants in the garden had gone to sleep. The four-leaf clover and the dandelion began to talk. “What do I have to do to meet the tulip?” The dandelion eagerly asked. “Listen carefully. Tomorrow night, the east wind will be blowing at its hardest. You must stretch up to the stars, as far as you can reach and let the wind take you away.” The clover said. Little did the dandelion know, that it wasn’t as the clover had made it seem. “Are you sure that this will work?” The dandelion asked. “Of course it will.” The four-leaf clover replied in assurance. They both went to sleep. The dandelion only dreamed of what would happen when they finally met. And the clover had nothing but evil thoughts in its mind until dawn.

The dandelion prepared the whole morning and afternoon to meet the tulip. Later that night, when the moon came out, the four-leaf clover noticed the wind starting to howl and rush through the garden. “Go, let the wind take you away.” The clover said. What the dandelion didn’t know was that the wind would blow all its white fluffy seeds away and it would die. The clover gleefully watched as the wind took the dandelion away. A few petals had reached the tulip but was quickly blown away as soon as it touched the flower.

Days later, as the clover had started to wither due to the evil thoughts which poisoned itself. It stared at the tulip, the one that the clover itself would never meet. But it was comforted by the fact that the dandelion would never meet it, either.

As the clover was living in its final days. It noticed flowers starting to bloom next to the tulip. It watched them bloom day by day. And coincidentally, the flowers that bloomed were dandelions. That looked just like the one before. Because what the clover didn’t know was, the wind had only blown the seeds, which the clover thought were petals, to the tulip. 

Oh hey, it's December.

To put it into simple terms, I'm back.
Sadly, the reason for my so-called blog disappearance isn't as simple as two words put into a sentence. I've been on highs and lows of inspiration lately and as productive as it can get me to be, it has it's negative effects.

Frankly, I'm not quite happy. Not that something's making me sad or anything. I'm just not.
If I could explain it, I would. But I can't, and I'd rather not plague other people with my problems, so I don't talk about it. It's common courtesy isn't it? Basically, I read a book, listen to music, and shut the world out. Until I decide that I'm okay, obviously. But the world has weird ways of getting me to participate in life.

But hey, at least I put all that I've been feeling into good use.
I've been writing, painting, etc. quite a lot recently. Creating things, actually. I'm thinking of actually sharing some of it soon. Starting with a very short story I wrote.
Also, I owe quite a lot of blog posts regarding things that occurred for the past two months. Which, by the way, is a 'eck lot.

Lastly, it's the Christmas season, if you don't know (which you probably don't.) It's my favorite time of the year, I love Christmas music, food, decor, movies, etc. I LOVE CHRISTMAS. So expect Christmas posts from me being thrown at your way. Have a happy December, please.

Journal Project

Even when I was young, I've always been scribbling down random thoughts and doodles into notebooks. And I guess that it's hobby of mine that I've carried on until now. Journal-ing is just a term I made-up that I like to call what I do.

Here are pages from the journal I currently have, and am working on. 

If I ever let you go through my journal, this is the first thing you'll probably see.

Basically

Never finished it haha.

It's really just a random sketch of a fountain.

 

Letter's from Japan and England!

Occasional watercolor typographies, in it.

Obviously, most of the "art" in it are unfinished, due to the fact that I tend to get unmotivated to finish doodles all the time. I basically write down my thoughts, doodle and write in this. And I put a lot of memorabilia (aka candy wrappers, tags and the like) in it. And well I didn't really want to post the thoughts/written work things in here, so...maybe some other time. 

Another thing I like to do with journals are list down random observations, odd, I know. But I'm telling you, most of my journals consist 40% of that.

How to start a journal project?

1) Find a notebook, and this is going to sound spiritually weird...but make sure it feels right.

2) Create a theme for it, or something. (E.g. mine is a "universal" journal)

3) Get started. Draw, write, etc.

4) Keep it interesting and pretty. (I put Oragami paper in some of my pages)

5) Don't forget about it. (I think I can say that this's my biggest problem)

Sam's Infinite Playlist: Sleepy September

Well, well. It's September. SEPTEMBER. A month before my birthday, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't freaked out by it. It's my last month as a thirteen year old, wow. No more singing along to Thirteen the musical for me (okay fine, I still will, but you get the point.)

I'm just glad I survived August, honestly, with the rain and all. August was honestly such a productive month, but if August was productive, September is just going to be down-right busy. 

To get to the point of this post though, here's my September playlist. It's pretty sad, again. I don't even know why but oh well. And, it ended up becoming a sleep playlist. The title of this playlist reminded me so much of a certain Green Day song. (Yes, Wake Me Up When September Ends) that I was this close to adding it to the playlist, but it just didn't really fit the vibe of the whole thing.

Listen to it on 8tracks

1) Woodland - The Paper Kites

2) Stubborn Love - The Lumineers

3) Holocene - Bon Iver

4) Asleep - The Smiths

5) Down to Your Soul - Right Away, Great Captain!

6) Dirty Paws - Of Monsters and Men

7) The Mast - Feist (I spelled it wrong in the picture oops)

8) Overjoyed - Bastille

9) Savannah - Relient K

10) Slowdancing In a Burning Room - John Mayer

11) Language Is Over - Little Comets (This was also in my August mix)

Oh, and I have two posts rotting in my drafts which I am planning on posting soon, and for a hint, one is journal-related. And lastly, if you have an 8tracks account please do link it to me, I love listening to other people's mixes.

Award: Liebster Award

Two days ago, I was nominated for the "Liebster Award" by the sweet Gia from "Okay, Gia."

I was honestly down-right flattered that she had nominated me, her blog is just wonderful. This was a nice surprise as this is the first reward I've received for my blog.

What is your all-time favourite song?
All time? Gee, this is a pretty hard question, but I've always loved Can't Help Falling In Love With You by Elvis Presley.

What are your top 3 pick-me-up songs?

1. Better When We're Together - Jack Johnson

2. The Bird And The Worm - Owl City

3. Three Little Birds - Bob Marley

(While I was looking through my iPod for my fav pick-me-up songs, I realized how much of a sadist I am oh man.)

What's your ultimate comfort food?
Mcdonald's. Period.

Talk about the best dream you ever had. 

One time, two days after I finished reading "Anna and the French Kiss" I had a dream that I went to Paris and it was such a pretty dream. I went to a lot of places in the book and I remember going to a bay-side thing. I don't remember much of the dream anymore, though.

What's your most fondest memory?

We have a house in Baguio because my mom grew up there and I remember this one time my whole family and my cousins went up, and during the night we lit the fire place inside the house and lit a bonfire outside and we just watched the stars  which are always seen so clearly in Baguio and talked and made 'Smores' and melted marshmallows and it was such a cold night which made it even better.

What do you normally do on a rainy day?

I really, dearly, immensely love rainy days. Usually, I watch a movie and drink some tea. If not, I play the piano or listen to music.

What's usually the first thing you think of when you wake up?

"I'm hungry." (And I pray of course.)

What's your computer's wallpaper?

.......This only shows how big a geek I am.

Name one thing you're thankful for today.

The amazing Mcdonald's delivery guy.

What are you thinking of at this exact moment?

I'm currently writing letters to people. So, "What can I say to make them happy?"

I nominate:

- Alexa

- Christina

- Jabs

My questions:

1) What is your favorite day of the week and why?

2) Describe your music taste.

3) Favorite breakfast food?

4) Books or Movies? Why?

5) Rainy or Hot days?

6) Give three songs you love but would be too embarrassed to sing?

7) Describe your 7th birthday.

8) Describe your favorite Christmas day.

9) Any memories you know you'd never forget? Why?

10) Describe what you're feeling right now with a book title.